I've only mentioned once or twice (or ... well, a lot) how much I enjoy Christopher Moore's writing. So, when he came up with a book that name checked Vincent van Gogh and suggested he might be a main character or driving force well I simply had to read it. Suffice to say I had my hopes up high for this book.
Maybe too high. Which isn't quite fair to say; I had specific expectations that this book did not quite meet. I wanted more van Gogh. I spent probably most of the first half of the book being a little bit frustrated and feeling like the description had misled me.
About half way through the book I got over it. And once I stopped sulking about the fact that there wasn't enough van Gogh I was absolutely enchanted. All my favourite elements of Moore's writing were here, the humour and the hilarious take on the supernatural. I got involved in the storyline and realized that the characters were just as compelling as Moore's earlier characters. So let's be clear: this is a story about the made up, mythical power of the colour blue. The title maybe should have clued me in, no? It's also a book about art, and inspiration and the force that drives people to create.
As I was reading I felt like Sacre Bleu was perhaps a bit of a divergence from Moore's earlier writing, but that's not exactly true. I simply happened to catch on a particular strain of Moore's writing when I first began reading him, and while that particular little set of books is my favourite, it's not the only aspect of his style. I did feel like there was a little bit of maturation in his style though (although, really, maturity is not a word I'd use to describe his writing) and there was definite growth. There's more creative scope and a crazy massive storyline that just isn't there in the most of his earlier works.
If nothing else it's worth a read just for the afterword.
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